Several jars of pickled fruits and vegetables, such as spicy carrots, cherries, Hungarian peppers, green beans, green tomatoes and carrots and habaneros, made by Erica Holland-Toll, chef at The Lark Creek Inn in Larkspur, Calif. on July 21, 2008. Photo by Craig Lee / The Chronicle less

Several jars of pickled fruits and vegetables, such as spicy carrots, cherries, Hungarian peppers, green beans, green tomatoes and carrots and habaneros, made by Erica Holland-Toll, chef at The Lark Creek Inn ... more

Photo: Photo By Craig Lee, The Chronicle

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Erica Holland-Toll, chef at The Lark Creek Inn, making Santa Rosa plum pickle in Larkspur, Calif. on July 21, 2008. Erica Holland-Toll pouring the fresh made brine into jars of Santa Rosa plums.Photo by Craig Lee / The Chronicle less

Erica Holland-Toll, chef at The Lark Creek Inn, making Santa Rosa plum pickle in Larkspur, Calif. on July 21, 2008. Erica Holland-Toll pouring the fresh made brine into jars of Santa Rosa plums.Photo by Craig ... more

Photo: Photo By Craig Lee, The Chronicle

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Santa Rosa plum pickle made by Erica Holland-Toll, chef at The Lark Creek Inn in Larkspur, Calif. on July 21, 2008. Photo by Craig Lee / The Chronicle

Santa Rosa plum pickle made by Erica Holland-Toll, chef at The Lark Creek Inn in Larkspur, Calif. on July 21, 2008. Photo by Craig Lee / The Chronicle

Ingredients for making Santa Rosa plum pickle by Erica Holland-Toll, chef at The Lark Creek Inn in Larkspur, Calif. on July 21, 2008. The ingredients are sugar, shallots, star anise, butter and Santa Rosa plums.Photo by Craig Lee / The Chronicle less

Ingredients for making Santa Rosa plum pickle by Erica Holland-Toll, chef at The Lark Creek Inn in Larkspur, Calif. on July 21, 2008. The ingredients are sugar, shallots, star anise, butter and Santa Rosa ... more

Photo: Photo By Craig Lee, The Chronicle

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Seasonal Cook: How to pickle peppers, plums and more

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Erica Holland-Toll always has four different jars of homemade pickles in her refrigerator. Maybe five. If she's hungry when she gets home from her job as head chef at Lark Creek Inn, she makes a toasted cheese sandwich and grabs a pickle.

"Dill cucumber pickles, pickled green tomatoes, spicy garlic green beans, carrot and lovage pickles," she says, ticking off the pickles currently residing in her San Francisco kitchen. At work, they are everywhere: Pickled cauliflower with brown mustard seed is part of an amuse-bouche for the table. Pickled cherries go on a charcuterie plate, pickled spring onions flavor a steak, and the green tomatoes top a sandwich of house-made pastrami.

Holland-Toll produces mainly quick pickles - vegetables and fruits that she douses in a vinegar solution with herbs and spices. While quick pickles take only a few hours to a couple of days to brine, pickles that are preserved via fermentation or heat-processing can require a week or two until they are ready to eat.

Delicious in their own right, quick pickles are an easy introduction to the art of preserving, which is showing a recent upswing in popularity after falling out of favor after World War II.

Holland-Toll grew up eating the old-fashioned pickles and preserves her mother made year-round from produce bought at U-pick farms or grown in the backyard of their home in Arnold in the Sierra foothills.

"When I left home, she would send me pickles. And when I started cooking, I asked for her recipes," says Holland-Toll.

She began experimenting with her mother's recipes and others she found digging through old Southern cookbooks. She discovered a couple tricks, such as that the pickling solution for cucumbers should be more acidic than for green beans, because the cucumbers' high water content dilutes the vinegar more.

She generally uses Four Monks distilled white vinegar from because of its neutral flavor. She also prefers to make American-style pickles, though she occasionally plays around with recipes from other cultures, such nuka pickles, which are rice bran-preserved pickles from Japan.

Holland-Toll always buys produce for pickling at the farmers' market, because its freshness means it has a higher water content.

"Not only is the flavor going to be better, but that's going to make them juicier and also less tough or fibrous," says Holland-Toll, who has noticed that older green beans, for example, can end up leathery after pickling.

"That water content is super important. If the pickles are too acidic or too salty, you can't fix that," she says.

The chef also offers the age-old advice to never reach into the pickle jar with your fingers; it introduces bacteria that shorten shelf life. However, if you treat quick pickles properly, they can last quite awhile. That is, unless you delve into them every day for a late-night snack.

Pickles get the Slow Food treatment

Michelle Fuerst's assignment for Slow Food Nation 2008, the Labor Day food extravaganza in San Francisco, is a daunting one: to organize the Pickles & Chutney Pavilion at Fort Mason in San Francisco. With barely a month to go before the event, it's consuming her life like microorganisms taking over a crock of Russian dills.

"The thing that's overwhelming at times is that all cultures pickle," says Fuerst. "And there are so many different methods of pickling."

Fuerst, who has cooked at Zuni Cafe and Chez Panisse, is currently a private chef and cooking teacher. But right now, she's spending her time on the phone talking to picklers at Wheelhouse Pickles in Brooklyn and at a Jewish senior center in Duluth, Minn. She has two scouts tracking down the best kimchi in Los Angeles, and is arranging a specialty tasting of sauerkraut from four corners of the United States.

"I know when you're tasting four sauerkrauts, they might be similar," she says, with the appropriate level of irony of someone whose official title is "pickle curator." "But it's an opportunity to see regional characteristics and expressions in sauerkraut, since the cabbage and bacteria will be different."

Fuerst's lineup of tastings for Slow Food Nation demonstrates the breadth and richness of pickle culture around the planet:

-- Japanese pickles. This category includes rice bran-fermented pickles, which call on bacteria for fermentation, as well as umeboshi (pickled plums).

Because they are an ancient form of preservation, pickles have a way of tying people back to the old ways of food, which is part of the goal of Slow Food Nation.

"Pickles enable an urban person to have a relationship with living food if they don't have a garden. You have created something that's alive and needs to be checked on," says Fuerst, referring to fermented pickles that have to be watched as the bacteria works its magic. "It deals with the alienation and loneliness of life," she adds, with a laugh.

Bread & Butter Pickles

Yields 3-4 pints

From "Pretty Pantry Gifts" (Chronicle Books; 2008), by Tara Duggan. Sweet and snappy, these sliced pickles are perfect for sandwiches, and the onions that accompany them are delicious, too. Tossing the cucumbers in salt and ice for a few hours before pickling, helps keep them crisp, as does removing the blossom end, which contains enzymes that soften cucumbers. If you prefer less sweet pickles, reduce the sugar.

1 pound Persian, English or 5-inch-long pickling cucumbers

1 small onion, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons table salt

4 cups ice

2 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar

2 cups sugar

Per jar

1 teaspoon mustard seed

1/2 teaspoon celery seed

Instructions: Wash the cucumbers and trim a small slice from the blossom end of each. (This is the end opposite the stem, which tends to have a small bump or a small bit of the stem attaches.) Cut the cucumbers into slices 1/8-inch thick. Place the cucumbers and onions in a large bowl. Sprinkle with the salt and stir to coat, then toss in the ice. Let stand 2 to 3 hours.

Wash 3 to 4 pint jars and lids in sudsy water; rinse well and let dry. Place the vinegar and sugar in a medium non-reactive saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.

Drain and rinse the cucumbers and onions, then drain again. Add to the saucepan and return to a boil. Remove from the heat.

Add the mustard seed and celery seed to each jar, and then pack the hot cucumbers and onions into the jars. Pour the hot pickling liquid on top until the cucumbers and onions are covered by at least 1/2 inch, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.

Allow to cool before covering tightly and refrigerating. The pickles will keep for 3 weeks refrigerated.

The calories and other nutrients absorbed from pickling solutions vary and are difficult to estimate. Variables include the type of food, pickling time and amount of surface area. Therefore, this recipe contains no analysis.

Pickled Santa Rosa Plums

Makes 1 quart

From Erica Holland-Toll of Lark Creek Inn in Larkspur. Warm, the plums pair well with pork chops, duck or chicken. They also can be served at room temperature in a salad of spicy greens and feta cheese. Though they hold for a while, the plums will start to soften quickly after sitting in the liquid.

1 pound firm-ripe Santa Rosa or other red plums

2 teaspoons butter

1 shallot, thinly sliced

1 piece star anise

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons sugar

1/3 cup white wine vinegar

Instructions: Slice the plums in quarters, cutting around the pits. Place in a clean 1-quart mason jar.

In a 4-quart saucepan, melt the butter until it foams, then allow the butter solids to brown in the pan. Once the butter is browned, being careful not to burn it, add shallots and star anise and cook until the shallots are golden brown and the star anise is fragrant.

Add the salt, sugar, vinegar and 1/3 cup water to the pan. Bring to a boil. Pour the liquid over the plums and stir well.

Let the plums cool in the liquid completely, then refrigerate for up to 2 months. Heat gently or bring to room temperature before serving.

The calories and other nutrients absorbed from pickling solutions vary and are difficult to estimate. Variables include the type of food, pickling time and amount of surface area. Therefore, this recipe contains no analysis.

Cucumber Kimchi

Makes 10 pickles

This recipe is from Jin Lee, the mother of Food section staff member Cindy Lee. Though stuffing the cucumbers takes a little time, they are ready to eat after a couple of days in the refrigerator.

10 pickling cucumbers, about 2 pounds

1/4 cup coarse sea salt, plus more for washing cucumbers

The filling:

1/3 cup coarse Korean red chile powder (see Note)

1 tablespoon ginger water (see Note)

2 1/2 teaspoons coarse sea salt

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1/4 cup cold water

1/2 bunch garlic chives, heads and ends trimmed, chopped small

The brine:

3/4 cup cold water

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

Instructions: Trim the ends of the cucumbers. Grab a small handful of salt and rub it against all sides of a cucumber, then rinse with cold water. Repeat for each cucumber.

With a sharp knife, create a slit lengthwise down the middle of the cucumber, making sure the knife goes completely through to the other side. Run the knife down until it is about 1/4 inch away from each end so that the cucumber stays intact. You should have one long slit.

Rotate the cucumber 90 degrees and create the same kind of lengthwise slit. You should have a cucumber with 4 slits that are similar in size. Do the same for the rest of the cucumbers. Put the cucumbers in a large bowl. Toss in the 1/4 cup salt and let sit for an hour.

In the meantime, make the filling. Mix all the ingredients except for the chives. Add chile mixture to the chives, making sure it is well incorporated. Set aside.

After an hour, squeeze the ends of the cucumbers. If the segments separate easily and the cucumbers feel more limp, they are ready to be filled. Rinse cucumbers with cold water, then drain.

Using one hand, squeeze the ends of a cucumber to open the slits. Fill with 1-1 1/2 teaspoons of the filling, depending on the size of the cucumber. Placed the filled cucumber in a large container. Repeat for the rest of the cucumbers.

To make the brine, add ingredients to the leftover filling in the bowl, and stir to dissolve salt and sugar. Pour the liquid over cucumbers. Cover the container tightly and let stand at room temperature overnight, then refrigerate. Eat 1-2 days later. If you like, you can refrigerate immediately but it will take another few days for the flavors to develop.

Note: Korean red chile powder can be found in Korean markets such as Kukje Super Market in Daly City; (650) 992-0333. To make ginger water, grate a 1-inch cube of fresh gingerroot. Squeeze the pulp to extract the liquid.

The calories and other nutrients absorbed from pickling solutions vary and are difficult to estimate. Variables include the type of food, pickling time and surface area. Therefore, this recipe contains no analysis.